Method of propelling cars



, UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

ADAM WINGARD, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

METHOD OF PROPELLING CARS.

- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 268,586, dated December 5, 1882,

Application filed October 21, 1881. (No model.)

f all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ADAM WINGARD, of the city and county of San Francisco, in the State of California, have devised and invented a new and useful method of propelling cars by placing the track and running-gear in a slotted tube or tunnel beneath the surface of the street; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawlngs.

My invention relates to an improved roada way and mode of propelling cars on the same,

for use in street-railway systems where the propelling agency may be engines, endless cables, or horses.

It consists in placing and carrying the roadbed and track within and through an underground tube or tunnel having acontinuous slit or narrow aperture in and along its top, communicating with I the street or surface above, and then in'making connection of the car-body with its trucks. or running-gear that is adapted to travel within the said slotted tube or tunnel and on the roadway therein in such manner that while the wheels and running-gear are moved along in the tube beneath the surface the car is supported and carried along over the surface of the street or ground above. I

Itconsists,also,inconnectingacar-bodywith its truck or running-gear by means of narrowv upright standards, shanks, or bars of such character that they may move along and travel in the continuous slit 0r aperture of a slotted tube or tunnel, whereby the car-wheels and running-gear of a car are adapted to run upon a roadway provided in saidtube, whilethe car itself is supported and propelled over the sur face above the tube.

The objects of my improvement are principally to enable lines and systems of streetrailways to be run without obstructing the surface of the streets with rails, switches, turnouts, and other parts of a roadway, to place the roadway out of the way of the street traffic, and the wear and injury to the rails and other parts of the structure from the trucks and vehicles passing over them.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows an elevation in cross-section through the tube, road-bed, and car-bod y of a roadway laid and operated according to my improved mode. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same figure. Fig. 3 is a topview or plan of the wheels and running-gear and the roadway in the tube. Fig. 4 shows the con,- str action where a single rail track is employed.

In carrying out my invention I construct beneaththe surface over which the cars are to be carried a tube or tunnel, of suitable size,

having in and along its top and communicat ing with the surface over the tube a continuous slit or narrow aperture. This tube is laid substantially in the same manner as in constructing tubes for endless-cable-railway systems, excepting that it is made somewhat deeper. Upon the bottom of this tube I pro vitle a road bed or foundation to receive the track, which I then lay along in a regular manner beneath and parallel with the slit or opening in the top. In this Way I remove the roadwayfrom the surface of a street and place it within a tube or tunnel beneath,so that the pavement of the street or surface above the roadway can be carried in an unbroken man ner from curb to curb up to the edges of the slit or narrow aperture in the top of the tube. Within the tube or tunnel, and upon the track thus formed, I place a truck or running-gear to support and carry a car-body, so connected with such running-gear, by means of standards, shanks, or narrow upright bars, that it is carried alongover the surface as the truck is drawn or moved along in the tube below. These upright supports, projecting upward from the truck, are of suitable strength to carry the carbody in an upright position; and of a size or thickness to move smoothly through and along the slot or aperture provided for the purpose in the top of the tube.

In the drawings, A shows the tube, constructed ot' the frame-work b b and the casing 0c.

laid on the bed ff and carried along in par- From the horizontal beam gdependingbrackets or pedestals g, to afford bearings for the axles, are carried down at each end, and from the top of the beam, also, upright shanks or narrow bars or plates I I are. carried up through the slit D a sufficient distance above the surface to be connected with and to support the car-body. A simple mode of connecting the car-body and running-gear by means of these shanks is shown in Figs. 2'and 3, where the end of each one, at a point above the slot D, is bent over or formed to take a horizontal position and project laterally outward, and the bars of the whole set or number used are bent or carried out laterally in this manner alternately in opposite directions, so that a portion extends to one side and a portion to the other side beneath the car-body. A bar of one side is connected with two bars of the other side by the diagonal tie-platesj, and the whole set forms an elastic support of proper strength to hold the car upright under all conditions of load. The upright limb or member of these shanks or bars requires to be rigid and stiff to keep an upright position; but the horizontal or lateral portions can be made somewhat yield ing or elastic in action. Where an increased weight or pressure is thrown upon one side of the car at any point the horizontal bars beneath that point, on being depressed, will draw upon the opposite bars with which they are connected by the ties, and the fiexure will be resisted. The size and number of these bars to be used will depend on and be governed by the width of the slit that can be employed in the street or surface above the tube, and the size and weight of car and its contents to be carried.

To produce steadiness of motion in the truck and cause the bars or connections between the truck and car-body to travel smoothly in the slit without rubbing or grinding against its sides, I employ horizontal guide-wheels K K, which I fix in supports on the truck in a position to bear and run against vertical guiding surfaces or rails L L, provided and carried on each side of the tube above the track or roadway. These guide-wheels and rails are shown in the several views of the drawings. The track laid and used in a tube or tunnel of such character may be a single rail placed in the center of the roadway; or it may be two rails laid to the required gage.

Where an increased size of structure would render it desirable or necessary, two separate slots or apertures, instead of the single one here shown, could be used, in which case a set of upright bars or connections would be provided to each slot, and the car-body would then be supported by a double set of bars or standards at a distance apart instead of a single set beneath the center of the car.

Where the motive power is derived from an endless cable traveling in the same tube, the cable supporting and guiding pulleys are placed between the rails of the track, and the gripper-frame is fixed to the truck in position to have the operating-levers carried up through the slit into the car above. f

In applying my invention to running cars of small capacity, adapted for light travel, to be drawn by horses, the single rail might be employed, the required stability and upright position of the car being insured by the use of the guide-wheels and their rails or guidingsurfaces on the side of the tube.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The'niethod of propelling and carrying cars and other vehicles, which consists in connecting the car above the surface of the ground with a truck traveling in a tunnel beneath the surface of the ground bymeansot'narrowstandards or supports capable of supporting the body of the car and traveling in a slot in the tube or tunnel, whereby the car or vehicle is carried along over the surface while its running-gear travels within the underground tube or tunnel, substantially as described.

2. An underground tube or tunnel having a roadway or track laid therein to receive the wheels and running-gear of a car or other vehicle, and provided with a continuous slit or aperture in the top over and in line with the roadway or track, in combination with a truck which is adapted to travel in said tube and upon the track thereof, and to support and cart y along over and clear of the surface of the ground a car or vehicle body, the propellingpower being either applied to the truck in the tube beneath or to the car-body above the ground, as set forth.

3. In combination with the slotted tube or tunnel A, having the roadway or track laid therein, and the guide-rails L L, the truck having the guide-wheels K K and the standards or supports I, substantially as set forth.

4. A car or other vehicle having its body connected with its truck or running-gear by means of narrow standards or supports, sub stantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

5. In combination with a truck or runninggear of a car or other vehicle which is adapted to travel within a slotted tube or tunnel, the standards or upright supports having their upper end portions bent outward horizontally and laterally to receive and support the car or vehicle body, substantially as'described.

6. The combination, with a tube or tunnel having a roadway'or track laid therein, and provided with a continuous slit or aperture in and along its top, of a truck or set of wheels havi ng standards or upright supports capable of moving in and along said slit, and of being connected to and supporting a car or vehicle body upon their upper ends outside of the tube or tunnel, substantially as described.

ADAM VVINGARD. [L.

Witnesses:

EDWARD E. OSBORN, GEo. VINCENT. 

